Scattered Seeds
by 111segasonic
Summary: Killing the un-dead. That pretty much sums up Barry's life, and he is very good at it. After planting a few sunflowers, he can take on practically anything. But now he's in a whole new universe, where his normally impenetrable plant defenses will be tested to the limit.
1. Misunderstandings

_Beep Beep Beep Be-SMASH_

Like most mornings, my day began with that accursed alarm clock. And just like every morning, I grabbed my wooden mallet and smashed it to pieces.

After sluggishly rising to my feet, I swept the remains of the clock into my dustbin. I was too awake to go back to bed, so I went ahead and started the coffee maker. As the machine ran, I looked around my house. Something told me this would be a long, boring day. Ever since I defeated Dr. Zomboss, the leader of the zombies, things had been going really slow. I suspected he was faking his surrender, so I never stopped planting a defense every morning. But today, I was tired. What good is it preparing for nothing?

I spotted the picture of my family on a shelf and lifted it. Not only did this picture bring good memories, but it also brought bad ones. I could remember that last time we had together, how we were just walking from the movies. We took a short cut down an alleyway and...

A single tear rolled down my cheek. I could still remember that mugger's face when he shot my parents in cold blood. I grasped the picture tighter. Ever since then, I dedicated my life to end all crime and- no wait; that's batman's edgy backstory. Or was it superman's? Eh, who cares.

 _Ding!_

"Ooh, my coffee's ready!"

I dropped the picture, allowing it to smash on the ground, and ran into my kitchen. I poured the coffee into my favorite mug. If zombie fighting was out of the question, what else was there? There had to be something to keep me from boredom, I just had to think. "Maybe I could visit my neighbors and see if- no wait, they're all dead."

I sighed and took a loud sip of my drink. "I mean, Crazy Dave is still alive, but he is exactly what his name implies: a David. And nobody plays with a David."

I started toward the living room. "I could throw another party with the zombies. Except I trust them as far as I can throw 'em."

I placed the empty mug on a coaster before plopping on the couch. "Or I could just stare at the ceiling as I slowly drift into madness."

This was definitely going to be one of those days. An hour later, I was still lying on that same couch doing the same thing. I was actually making good progress until I heard something beating at the window. It was probably Crazy Dave asking for more hot sauce, so I ignored it. But the noise only continued to grow louder and a lot more irritating.

"Shut up, Dave!" I yelled.

Apparently, whoever was knocking on my window decided to flip the entire house. I flew out of the couch and slammed into the wall. Sounds of shattering windows exploded throughout the house. I could hear the rushing winds as it passed through the broken windows.

"What's going on?!"

My surprise was cut short as I saw the couch sliding toward me. I rolled out of the way as it smashed into the wall. After my narrow escape from being flattened, I attempted to stand. But the house jerked to another side, sending me sailing to the opposite wall.

The house spun around and around without stopping. It was as if physics decided to take a nap. I found myself floating for a few seconds before slamming into another wall. Obtaining my balance was hard enough without having to dodge the flying furniture. Yep, something strange was going on.

My hands desperately searched for something fixed to latch on to. After some time of being tossed around, they found themselves locked onto a door knob. The door violently swung open as if to throw me off, but I held firm. I spotted a window to the side of me. Peering through it, I thought I could finally solve this mystery.

But all I could see was the rushing wind. And strange enough, the wind was red. In fact, that was the only reason I _could_ see it. After a while of staring and intense reasoning, I concluded...

"I'M IN A TORNADO!"

It was impossible! Last I checked there wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning!

There was another jerk, and I lost grip on the door. I found myself thrown to the ceiling, and then to the floor. After some time, I finally managed to stop landing on my face. If anything, I was grateful I didn't fly through any of the broken windows, but my stuff wasn't so lucky.

"Aww, not my almanac!" I cried. For a moment, I had to forget my stuff. What was more important was surviving.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tornado stopped as abruptly as it came. I was back on my floor, thank goodness.

I punched the air. "Alright! I survived a tornado! I am awesome!" I cheered. I started my first step forward, just as the house began plummeting.

My ride hadn't ended. Everything started to float toward the ceiling. I felt weightless; the kind of feeling you'd get on a roller coaster. But this was no time to throw my hands in the air and scream. Making my way to the bedroom, I saw my mattress in midair.

"Well, here goes nothing."

I floated above the mattress and braced myself. The house hit the ground with a loud thump and everything went black.

Seconds later, I was still in darkness. For a time, I thought it was because I was unconscious. You could imagine my relief when I realized my eyes were simply closed shut. I slowly opened them. The room was dark, probably due to the power being knocked out. Some light managed to seep in through one of the windows, but that was all. I waited for my eyes to adjust before trying anything.

But as I sat upright, a sense of fear crawled up my back. Questions like "Where am I?" and "What if Spain was in Greece?" were ever-present in my mind. I'd fought a zombie apocalypse and stumbled through time, but this was different. I was confused, scared, and alone.

I sighed and rose to my feet. "I asked for this, didn't I? I tempted fate; pushed it to its limit. Now I'm paying the price."

I tried to add a positive spin on my situation. But for the life of me, I couldn't find one good thing about this. I mean, I didn't even know where I was. For all I knew, I could've landed right back where I started. I made my way toward the window, trying not to trip over anything, and looked out it.

"A forest?" I said, quite surprised, "that tornado carried me quite a distance."

Between my house and the forest was a wide stretch of land filled with tornado debris and items from my house. I approached each of my windows to get a different perspective, but it was all the same. I was completely surrounded by thick trees.

Already things were looking grim for me, but I wouldn't allow worry to consume me. I'm a survivor. I glared at improbability and spit in its mouth. I was going to use my resources and find a way out of here.

First, the house was to be made whole again. Thankfully, the exterior of the house was still intact, save for the windows. I marched to my attic and opened a box containing spare bulletproof windows. Nothing will be able to get in here after a few minutes.

After I was safely isolated, I began my work on the interior of the house. That involved picking up furniture, replacing anything broken, and fixing the electricity. The last one was a mystery to me, but I figured I'd get around to it later.

At first look, the forest was intimidating. Sickly trees with warning branches and the gloomy grass all helped the spooky appearance. But after a couple of minutes, I was beginning to think this forest was all bark but no bite. Nothing posed a great threat, and I was starting to get used to it. I finally decided it was safe to start collecting some of the stuff that fell from the house. That was my first mistake.

"Ah, my almanac's safe," I said, lifting the book from the ground. Already had I made ten trips to gather everything. Only one or two trips more and I'd have finished. But as I opened the book to inspect it, I heard a twig snap. Instantly, my survival instincts jumped to life as I threw a look behind me. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a green flash of fire from the darkness of the forest. Shortly after, a figure began to emerge from the bushes. I dashed for a nearby broom and pointed it at the creature. "I'm begging you, don't come any closer! Cause I _will_ viciously murder you with this broom!"

The figure ignored my warning continued to move forward. My heart raced, but I continued to keep the menacing glare. I wasn't going to back down. The looming beast took a step into the light. Soon, its whole body was revealed by the sunlight.

"Is that...a unicorn?"

I was right. In front of me was a living unicorn, but it wasn't exactly how I'd pictured it. For one, it was half my size and had a pink coat. Its purple mane was in the style of a human's. And it's purple eyes were _huge_. This animal was by far the strangest thing I'd ever encountered.

The curiosity was so interesting, that I barely noticed two others following the unicorn. One of the newcomers had wings folded at its sides. Its coat was cream and its mane, blue. The other was completely white, besides his big blue eyes. Its snout was much larger than the other two. And this one had no special features on its body.

These cartoon horses didn't seem like they could hurt a fly. There was no need to be cautious. And right there, my defenses dropped along with my broom. With domestication in mind, I reached out my hand to pet the animals. But before I could make any progress, two more horses appeared. Then five more horses. Then ten more came. I began to notice the dramatic increase in number, but only one thought crossed my mind.

"If I could tame them...I'll have a whole army!"

The horses just stared at me with blank expressions. For a while, none of them blinked. It was getting a little more than creepy. I looked behind me, expecting to be jumped from behind. Nothing. So what attracted these horses in the first place? As I turned around, I noticed that the horses had advanced.

"What?"

Their whole expression changed as their wide eyes glared at me. Mouths hanging open, they took another step. I took one look at their glazed eyes and knew they were out for blood. They began to crouch down, ready to jump any moment.

I was beginning to panic. From the quick glance behind me, I understood that my house was a few yards away from me. But the door was on the other side. Assuming these horses were faster than me, that would be way too far for a mad dash. Every time the horses crept closer, I took a step back. The broom was just beside me, and the only option I had was to fight back.

I went for the broom and grabbed it. At my sudden movement, a unicorn lunged at me and knocked me to the ground. My attacker hissed as its mouth stretched open. I kicked the unicorn off me as several more decided to join in.

I managed to jump to my feet and keep them back. I fought ruthlessly, not sparing _one_ from the repetitive whacking of the mighty broom. I repelled a zombie horde with nothing more than a wooden hammer. Taking these things was easy. That is until-

 _SNAP!_

-the broom broke. Before I knew it, I was backed up against the wall. The surrounding horses stared at me with a threatening leer. The unicorns' horns glowed green as if they were charging something.

"Huh, neat trick. But I know a butter one." I extended my arm and opened my hand. Instantly, a big glob of butter appeared in my palm. "Get it?"

Before they could answer, I flung butter into their faces with deadly precision. Overwhelmed by butter, the horses retreated back into the darkness.

"Butter luck next time!" I yelled after them.

Well, that was over. I filled my arms with as much of my stuff I could find and stumbled into the house. As I locked the door I slapped my forehead. "Wait I wanted to tame them! Not chase them away!"

Yes, I did realize that they were trying to kill me. But they were just animals. With the right amount of discipline, I could have them eating out of the palm of my hand. I never had a pet before, and it would be interesting trying to break them.

I managed to make my way to a window without tripping over anything. "Maybe one might come back," I hoped. But as I waited, I realize that probably wouldn't happen. I mean, I _did_ destroy them with a simple broom. They'd have to be complete idiots to return.

But as I began to turn my head, something caught my eye. Six horses strolled toward my house. Were they really that dumb? I smiled and reached for my wooden mallet and shovel. This time, I'll have the advantage.

* * *

Earlier...

Princess Twilight and her friends trekked deeper into the Everfree Forest. Traveling off-path, the ponies had to duck under low branches and trudge through piles of leaves and twigs. They ventured further into the forest than ever before. Yet, as they walked, they never encountered any of the Everfree creatures. Though the ponies were grateful for the lack of monsters, they were starting to get bored.

"Augh!" Rainbow Dash cried, throwing her hoof in the air. "It's been a whole hour and still no excitement!"

"We came here to investigate the tornado," Twilight reminded. "Not to get any 'excitement'."

"You'd think a lot of excitement would be involved considering where we are."

"We're tired enough without your complainin', Dash," Applejack said. "I just want to get this over with so I can return to mah farm."

"Why did we come here anyway?" Rarity asked. "I thought we agreed that tornado was nothing but a result of the Everfree's unnatural magic. Nothing more."

"Not even the Everfree could conjure something like this," Twilight explained. "Tornadoes take a lot of planning and pegasi to create. This place is too random to do any of that."

"Then it was probably the Shadow Bolts' doing," Rainbow Dash countered. "Remember, the greatest flyers of the Everfree? They did it. Problem solved."

Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. "You do realize that group was just a projection created by Nightmare Moon to deceive you, right?"

Dash blinked. "What?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Look, pegasi can't create _red_ tornadoes. And why would a pegasus summon a tornado all the way out here?"

"Why would anypony summon a tornado here?" Applejack asked. "I'm tellin' you, we have nothin' to worry about. Whatever that thing was it doesn't matter."

"It _could_ be nothing," Pinkie Pie said, "or it could be the summoning of an insane warrior with an iced over heart hidden behind a cheery exterior who'll trample any opposition in a mad escape for freedom with its infinite army."

The group wore confused expressions as they stared at Pinkie. "I don't think so," Twilight said.

"Look, the very fact Pinkie isn't vibratin' like a rattler on a jackhammer is proof this is a wild goose chase," Applejack pointed out. "But if you want to go runnin' around solvin' mysteries, then I won't stop you. In fact, that's the only reason I agreed to come along."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you."

"I _wish_ that at the end of this, we get to finally _do_ something," Rainbow Dash said.

"I'd beg to differ," Rarity said. "The fuss Twilight's making about this place as really done a number on my hooficure. I can't wait to return home to the spa."

"Whatever it is," Twilight said, "it's on the other side of these bushes."

The ponies stopped immediately, surprised by the sudden warning. In front of them was a batch of tall, thick bushes blocking the path. "Really?" Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat hopefully. "How do you know?"

"Ever since we started this trip, there's been a weak pull of magic guiding me to the location. If I'm not mistaken, the source of that power is here."

The team glanced at each other. "Whatever you say."

They step forward and separated the bushes, prepared for the worst. Past the bushes was a large opening with twigs and branches scattered everywhere. But the thing that shook their expectations to the core was the object in the center. "It's...it's..."

"A house." Rainbow Dash said. "We came all this way for a house?! To think I was looking forward to this!"

"It can't be just a house, dear," Rarity said. "I mean, a normal house can't create magic tornadoes."

"Or can it?" Pinkie Pie said.

"No Pinkie, it can't," Applejack said. "I hate to tell you 'I told you so'."

Twilight ignored her friends and began to examine the strange house. It was looked like an ordinary house of Ponyville. But it was made of concrete instead of wood, like in Manehattan. Instead of hay, the roof was checkered with bricks, as well as the base of the house. As she inspected the place, she heard a sharp cry from one of her friends.

Twilight whipped around and spotted Fluttershy cowering behind her. "Fluttershy? What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy feebly pointed toward the window. "Th-th-there..."

The ponies looked where she pointed and saw the window but nothing else. "Did you see somepony in there?"

Rainbow Dash flew toward the window and pressed her face against it. "It's too dark to see anything clearly, but I think there's furniture."

"Of course! Something must live in a house like that!" Twilight said. "If whatever made that tornado is in there, it must be some powerful wizard. I wonder, why would it create a tornado of such degree?"

"We could wait here talking about it," Pinkie said, "or we could knock on the door and ask."

"That's the most sense anypony has made since this morning," Rarity said, fanning herself with her hoof.

"If you think it's such a good idea, why don't _you_ do it?"

Rarity froze, wishing she hadn't said anything. "Well, you see..."

"Don't tell us you're scared!" Rainbow Dash laughed.

"I'm not scared! I just think it'll be more appropriate if Applejack did the honors."

"If you don't want to knock, you don't have to," Twilight assured. "We'll just ask somepony else."

"Yeah, it's okay to admit you're a coward," Rainbow Dash said, before receiving an elbow to the side. "Ow!"

"No, I'll do it," Rarity said, "if not only to show Rainbow Dash I'm entirely capable of knocking on a door." Rarity trotted to the door with her head up. She stopped in front the door and politely knocked. She smiled triumphantly and turned to her friends. "See, I'm not-"

She didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence. The door swung open and a shovel slammed against the back of her head. She fell to the floor motionless. Holding the other end of the shovel was a strange bipedal creature.

"Rarity!" Applejack shouted as she rushed the creature. She spun around and bucked with all her might. The creature tried to block the blow with its shovel. But as the hit connected, the shovel snapped in half, throwing the creature to the floor.

" _Aw, that was my favorite shovel_ ," it said.

Applejack tried to attack once more, but Twilight's hoof managed to stop her. "Wait, Applejack! I think it's trying to speak!"

"Too late now!" Rainbow yelled as she charged it. The creature jumped to its feet and smacked her with its mallet. As Rainbow was sent sprawling to the ground, the creature dashed toward Applejack for revenge.

"Come and get it!" Applejack yelled, winding up another kick. With amazing agility, the creature side-stepped her buck. It returned the favor by giving Applejack a devastating hit to the head with its mallet. She immediately fell down unconscious.

Twilight had to do something. She started charging a tranquilizing spell to calm this thing down. The creature noticed this and grabbed a glob of butter out of thin air. She almost completed the spell when butter covered her whole face. It somehow rendered her unable to cast spells. "Wha-?!"

The creature punched Twilight's butter-covered face, throwing her to the floor. Before it could blink Rainbow Dash tackled the creature and threw it into the window. The creature staggered out the door, covered in glass. " _Okay, that hurt..._ "

Rainbow Dash, without a moment to lose, kicked its leg. The creature cried out in pain as it crumbled to the ground.

Rainbow Dash flew back a bit. "Yes! How do ya like that?"

In a swift motion, the creature threw its mallet and hit Rainbow square on the forehead. Rainbow Dash crashed to the floor and was out cold. Before it could pick up its mallet, something splattered all over its face.

"Hey, stop hurting my friends!" Pinkie Pie warned, holding two more cakes. "You don't want me to throw this again."

The creature wiped its face, quite baffled. " _Oh, so you want to play it that way huh?_ " Two globs of butter appeared in its hands.

The two glared at each other, daring their opponent to throw. They stood there for a while until Pinkie cried, "Food fight!"

Both pelted each other with unhealthy food. Fluttershy looked in horror at what the thing had done. All her friends fought bravely, but she just stood there scared. She couldn't let this go on any longer that it already has.

"Nooo, unsalted butter...my only weakness..." Pinkie said as she was completely covered in butter. "Goodbye cruel world!"

As the creature picked up its mallet, it heard a loud cry. "How dare you!"

The creature turned and saw Fluttershy right below him, staring directly into its soul. "We did nothing wrong to you! Why would you ever attack us you big mean bully!? I can't believe you would just knock out all my friends like that! I WANT YOU TO APOLOGIZE!"

In the middle of her lecture, the creature slowly picked up its mallet.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Drop the hammer!"

Ignoring her, the creature raised its mallet. Without further hesitation, Fluttershy used her "stare". Her eyes pierced the creature's soul, injecting fear into its veins. The creature then dropped its mallet onto the ground.

"Good, now apologize."

It immediately reached behind its back and tossed butter at her face. It then picked up its mallet and swung. Right before the hit connected, there was a purple flash, and all the ponies disappeared.

* * *

"Y'know, maybe I should've stayed inside..." I mumbled.

I limped back to the house and opened the door. I really hoped that my leg wasn't broken. I barely had anything to treat it. I sat on a chair and began massaging my leg. From what I could tell, it wasn't that badly damaged. Thank goodness.

I took a finger and ran it through the icing on my face. I then stuck it in my mouth. It was actually pretty good. I continued to lick my hands as I walked to the sink to wash off the cake. But as I turned the knob, nothing came out.

"That's right, I have no water either..."

I reached for some paper towels and began to clean up. For some reason, these ponies are a lot different than the ones I fought earlier. And a lot tougher. For some reason, they seemed a lot smarter as well. It kinda looked like they were trying to talk to me. Too bad I couldn't understand them.

I had a hunch that this would not be the last time I'd see them, so I had to defend myself for next time. I took a seed packet from my drawer and removed a seed from it. I then threw it down in front of my house. From the seed, grew a happy sunflower.

"Time to start garden my house!"

The sunflower face-leafed.

* * *

 **Meh, I guess I could write something.**


	2. Plants vs Ponies

Twilight was shrouded in complete darkness. The last few minutes were a blur. She recalled fighting a strange creature with her friends, but that was it. She tried to remember what came next, but it hurt to think about it.

Slowly, she began to regain her senses. She felt a firm bed beneath her as well as a soft pillow at her head. Had she'd been dreaming? Had that whole adventure been nothing but an illusion created by her subconscious? If so, why did she feel an intense pain throbbing in her forehead?

Beyond the darkness, came a soft voice. The voice resonated in Twilight's head, giving her a slight headache. She tried to make out what it was saying but it was difficult. It gradually grew louder and even became deafening. She realized the voice was calling her name. Soon, it was becoming clearer to who was calling her. "P-Pinkie?"

Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes as the bright light came in. The light dimmed as a pink blur formed. "Twilight, hey Twilight...WAKE UP!"

"Gaahh!" Twilight cried as she sprung to life.

"Ugh, finally!" said Pinkie Pie, "I thought you were never gonna wake up!"

Fluttershy, who was sitting right beside Pinkie, lit up when she saw Twilight. "Nurse, she's waking up."

"Wh-where am I?" Twilight asked.

"You're in the hospital," Nurse Redheart calmly replied, walking into the room. "From what your friends told me, you were all attacked by a monster in the Everfree. It knocked you unconscious."

"I remember _that_ ," Twilight said, rubbing her head. A cloth was wrapped around her injury. "But how did we escape?"

"Well," Fluttershy said, "I was confronting the creature when we were suddenly teleported. We were all back at the entrance of the forest. I assume you had woken up because you collapsed behind me. Since you didn't respond to my voice, I ran and got help. Soon, a couple of nurses followed me back and took you in."

"I woke up after that," Pinkie Pie added with a smile.

"So, the others are here too?" Twilight asked.

Redheart nodded. "But they may be still unconscious. Like you, they took a nasty blow to the head. Though I'm sure all they need is some rest and they'll be up and running by tomorrow."

Twilight sighed in relief. "Good."

Nurse Redheart continued, "But you're not any different princess. After your friends leave, I'd advise you to take a long nap."

"Yeah, but _after_ that," Pinkie Pie said, pulling a long list out of nowhere, "we could throw a 'get well' party! Or if you're feeling better by that time, it'll be renamed to an 'I'm doing fine' party! In fact, we could host it in _your_ room, Twilight!"

Nurse Redheart turned to Pinkie. "What?"

"Oh, I'm sure the doctor wouldn't mind," Pinkie said waving a hoof. "We could invite Applejack, Rarity, and Dash, too! No, we could invite everypony in the hospital! Hmm, we might have to take down some of these walls so they could all fit..."

As Pinkie Pie rambled, Twilight sank into her pillow and thought. Now that her memory was returning, so much was on her mind. But mainly, it was about the creature. Fluttershy noticed Twilight's silence and spoke up. "Is there something wrong, Twilight?"

"Oh sorry, just thinking," Twilight replied.

Pinkie stopped and jumped into the conversation. "About what?"

"Well...I can't get my mind off of the thing that attacked us. It seemed somewhat intelligent. Not like the manticores and timberwolves of the forest. And to think that yellow...substance was able to cancel my spell. It's just so mind-boggling. Gold is the only thing known to counter magic."

"Well duh, that's why it threw butter at you."

"But...only _gold_ can cancel magic!"

"I know, butter."

Twilight shook her head. "Let's drop the subject. Have you seen Spike while I've been unconscious? I believe this is a matter that needs Princess Celestia's attention."

Suddenly, the door burst open as Spike barged in. "Sorry...I took...so long." he huffed.

"Ah good, you're here!" Twilight said, clapping her hooves. "Nurse, can you get me a quill and paper?"

"No problem," she said before leaving.

Spike took a few deep breaths before speaking. "What happened!?"

"Spike, there's no need to be alarmed. I'm alright."

"No no no, where's Rarity?!"

Twilight frowned. "Thanks a lot."

"She and the others are safe," Fluttershy assured.

"Really? Where are they?"

"Later Spike," Twilight said, "right now I need to send a letter."

* * *

Celestia lied in the comfort of her room, reading a book. She was interrupted when a small cloud of smoke entered her window. As it approached, the smoke disappeared, leaving a neatly rolled letter at its end. After catching the letter with her magic, Celestia unrolled it and read aloud.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

This morning, a strange red tornado formed in the Everfree Forest. My friends and I went to investigate the remains and found a large house deep within the forest. As we knocked on the door, a bipedal creature opened it and attacked us. We managed to escape with minor wounds but we are okay. I believe the creature that attacked us may have intelligence, but I'm not too sure. I've never encountered a situation like this and I thought you should know about it."

"A red tornado?" Celestia said, astonished. "It can't be..." Celestia dropped the letter and opened a draw beside her. From it, she levitated a blank sheet of paper, some ink, and a quill. Without any delay, she began to write.

"My dear Twilight,

I wish you had told me sooner. I will send a group of guards to take it down and bring it into custody. If this thing is really intelligent, we must seek its motives. If you can, describe every aspect of the creature in detail that we may locate it. But before we contain this creature, don't allow anypony to enter the Everfree Forest."

Celestia sent her message and waited anxiously for a response. A few minutes passed and another letter flew towards her. She immediately opened it and read.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

As I mention in the previous letter, the creature is bipedal and lives in a house. It also wears clothes very similar to our own. Actually, its clothing was my first hint of its intelligence. Furthermore, the creature's arms, legs, and face are bare. It has a mane resembling that of a male pony. The creature attacked us with tools you might find in a shed: a shovel and a big mallet. But strangely enough, it had the ability to spawn a strange, magic-nullifying substance. I'd go into more detail, but the nurses insist that I get some rest. I hope this was helpful."

With a sigh of relief, Celestia lowered the letter. "You there," She called to a nearby guard.

"Yes, your majesty?" He said.

"Didn't I hearShinning Armor was in the area? Fetch him for me; I have a mission for him."

* * *

"We're back in business!" A sunflower cheered as she was planted next to five others.

As the sunflowers glowed, miniature suns fell to the ground. Barry collected the suns with a gun-like machine and planted a peashooter.

"Okay zombies!" he said, "Get ready to _pea_ defeated!"

"Please Peashooter," Sunflower said, "you're starting to sound like Barry."

A cabbage-pult, followed by two sunflowers and another peashooter, were planted next. Soon, a good amount of plants guarded the whole front house. Sunflowers filled the back row. Cabbage-pults made up the second and third. Peashooters stood in the fourth and fifth. And wall-nuts were in front. Barry had time, so he started planting defenses in the back of the house.

"I can't put my finger on it," Peashooter said, "but something is off about our lawn."

Sunflower rolled her eyes. "You mean, besides it being two times bigger and surrounded by a forest?"

"Yeah, besides those."

"Did we move or something?" Cabbage-pult asked. "I never understood why we lived next to a graveyard during a zombie apocalypse."

Sunflower turned to look at the house. "Pretty sure this is the same house... But then how did we get here?"

"Time travel?" another peashooter suggested.

"But Penny isn't here. And you'd think she would be, considering she _is_ the time machine."

Peashooter shrugged. "Maybe Barry rented a helicopter and moved the house to a safer place."

"A dark forest is a safe place?" Cabbage-pult said. "But then again, who am I to question Barry's reasoning."

"Maybe we could just ask Barry and stop guessing," Wall-nut said. "I'm sure he knows what's going on."

"Please no," Cabbage-pult groaned. "The fact that we can understand him but not vice versa makes it annoying; exasperating even. It's hard enough just asking him for some fertilizer..."

"Would you rather be left in the dark for the rest of the day?" Sunflower asked.

"Why not?"

"If it helps, I nominate Peashooter as the one asking. Since he knows him longest," said another cabbage-pult.

"What, no!" yelled Peashooter. "Wait...which one of us?"

All the peashooters turned left until they all stared at the one at the end. "Come on guys! I don't want to ask him!"

"Sorry, you're outvoted."

"But-"

Before he finished, Barry walked up, having just finished planting the army behind. "Hey plants, I just told the others in the back where we are. So basically we were whisked away by a magical tornado and landed in this forest, I guess. Oh, and small horses are trying to kill me. That's all."

The plants blinked as their owner strolled back into the house. "I liked the time travel theory better..."

* * *

"Captain Armor, are you sure this is the right place?" a guard asked. "It was implied that there was only _one_ creature. I see an army of these strange plants."

Shining Armor and his crew hid among the bushes and spied what they thought was their target. Shining Armor's eyes fell upon the bipedal creature entering the house. "I'm sure the one Princess Celestia wants is the creature that just walked inside. We should be allowed to dispose of these other things."

"Do you think we can?" another guard said, unsure. "It looks like we're slightly outnumbered."

"Come on now, they're just plants. What are they going to do, shoot vegetables at us? We have our swords, our shields, our spears, and nothing to fear."

Ten seconds later...

"Augh! I'm down!"

The guards struggled to keep their shields up as it was pelted with peas. The lobbed cabbages forced the pegasi to the ground with their continuous fire. Even if they got close enough, the giant walnuts made it impossible to venture further.

"More incoming!"

"'Nothing to fear' he said," a guard grumbled. "'They're just plants' he said."

"Just hold your shield up, soldier!" Shining Armor ordered, ducking under an incoming pea. Suddenly, a loud _spudow_ exploded through the area, followed by a sharp cry. He shot a look at the back and saw several guards on the floor, bruised and wounded. Before he could do anything, a speeding pea found its way directly between his comrade's eyes. His head was violently thrown back as he fell unconscious. Shining Armor tried to help, but the constant fire on his shield proved it impossible.

Shining's horn began to glow. "I'm creating a shield everypony!" Soon, a purple force field covered the guards. Veggies dashed upon the construct, gradually creating cracks. "Protect the fallen; bring them to the back! Hurry!"

They followed as ordered and dragged their friends back. Shining began pushing his partner to safety. As he did, he stumbled across a metal stick with a red ball on it. Before he could react, it began to rise. The dirt separated and revealed a large potato under it.

"That doesn't look good..." He acted quickly and threw the wounded pony aside, right before the plant blew up.

 _SPUDOW!_

"CAPTAIN!"

Shining flew back, his armor completely obliterated. Everything seemed to slow. All the guards turned to see their captain lying motionlessly on the ground. The sounds of battle dulled as the magic shield deteriorated.

A brave unicorn took control. "Unicorns! Create another shield! I'll save the captain." A second shield formed overhead and a few guards rushed to help. They circled their captain as one check for his heartbeat. "He's still alive, but barely. We must retreat immediately."

"No, we must avenge the captain," another guard said. "You can teleport yourself and as much wounded as you can. We _will_ defeat these plants."

"Hurry, we can't hold this shield for long," the other unicorns said.

The unicorn began to argue, but a glowing leaf outside the shield caught their attention. The leaf floated from the house and made its way on one of the pea-firing plants. As it touched, the plant was engulfed in a bright light and a war helmet appeared on its head. It rapidly fired peas by the hundred, causing the force field to instantly shatter.

"Augh!" the unicorns cried.

"GO NOW!" the guards yelled.

The unicorn reluctantly nodded his head and charging the spell. "Good luck." After that, he and the wounded were gone.

But as soon as they teleported, four more leaves powered up the pea-firing plants. As the light covered them, they aimed and fired.

* * *

Celestia and Luna, sat waiting for word about the creature. They waited for a few hours until Luna began to get impatient.

"Why are they taking so long?" Luna asked. "If it were my night guards, they would've captured this creature under an hour."

"Perhaps," Celestia said, "but I'm sure they're on their way now."

"Though, I can't say I know why you're trying to capture this creature. We could easily leave it where it is."

Celestia shook her head. "No, we can't. Don't you remember the last time a foreign bipedal creature magically appeared in Equestria? I don't know what this thing's motives are, but it can't be good."

"I think you're just overreacting. Not all strange things come to cause destruction, at least not intentionally. I myself was once no greater than a monster, though I may have denied it. I was convinced I stood with reasonable intentions; I was too blind to realize what I was doing was wrong."

"So you think I should reason with it?"

"No, I think you should blast it with the Elements of Harmony as you did me! Maybe send it to the moon, I don't know. Isn't that why they're there: to create peace violently?"

"We can't. We already gave up the Elements to the Tree of Harmony a while ago."

"Ah yes…. What does that tree even do?"

"I'm glad you asked; it-"

At that moment, a Royal guard burst through the doors, gasping for breath. He rushed toward the princesses before he lifelessly stumbled to the ground.

"Message...for the princess..." he wheezed as he struggled to his feet.

"Somepony fetch some water for our messenger," Luna ordered.

Two nearby guards nodded and brought back a jug filled to the brim with clear water. The messenger savagely drank the container dry and wiped his mouth. Clearing his throat, he told the princess the message. "I'm afraid we have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Good news, please."

"We were unable to capture the creature. All but few were slaughtered by an army of plants."

Celestia and Luna stared in absolute shock. "A-and the bad news?"

"No, wait that was the bad news... The good news is that we fought for nearly a whole ten minutes."

"How is this _good_ news?" Celestia said, getting a little upset.

"Sorry Your Majesty, I didn't want to just bring bad news. Another thing, these plants were sowed personally by the creature. Meaning, to get to it, we had to get through the plants. Which, I might add, is impossible."

"Impossible?" Luna scoffed. "How could measly plants outdo a bunch of armed guards?"

Celestia shot an annoyed glare at her sister. "If they managed to take out my trained guards, I'm sure they're not as weak as you're making them out to be." Celestia turned back to the guard. "Please, how is Captain Shining Armor? Did he survive?"

"Thankfully, yes. Though he was caught in an explosion, the doctors say he'll eventually be alright."

Celestia sighed in relief. "At least I can be happy about one thing. You've done well in telling us this guard; you may leave."

The guard nodded and silently left.

"Celestia," Luna said, "allow me and my guards to attempt to capture this creature. I won't allow these plants to make a mockery of our kingdom!"

"I don't know..." Celestia said, "I rather you away from any danger."

"I've done things like this before, I can handle myself. Plus, with a mighty alicorn fighting along with her trained guards, there won't be any danger."

Celestia thought for a while before answering. "Fine."

* * *

"Okay plants," Sunflower said, "that battle was horrible."

At her remark, the plants burst out in fits of laughter. But their happy expressions faded when they saw that she was indeed serious.

She angrily folded her leaves and explained. "I mean it! We had no idea what we were doing!"

"But we won, right?" Potato Mine said, "what does it matter if we understood or not?"

The plants nodded in agreement, but the sunflower slowly shook her head. "You don't get it, _we_ didn't win. The plant food did."

"Your point being?"

"If we needed to rely so much on plant food, what would happen if we were to run out? No, we should be able to win battles without an excessive use of plant food."

"That's Barry's problem," Peashooter said. "We're just planted somewhere and shoot what's in front of us."

"But these horses don't seem like they mindlessly walk into our fire. They make a plan, and they act upon it. It seems that if we want to win, we need to pull our own weight."

"Whoa whoa, you mean we should actually _aim_!?"

Sunflower stared blankly at the peashooter.

"He's kidding," Cabbage-pult assured. "But we know little about these horses. How do we fight them?"

"And another thing," Potato Mine said, "are we sure these guys are necessarily bad? One risked its life for another. To me, that's pretty heroic."

"You're just making an excuse so you don't have to work."

"Eh, I guess. But seriously, we need to know more about them."

"But where are we going to get that kind of information?" asked Sunflower.

"So, you need information?" a voice said.

The plants looked around but no one was in sight. Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bushes. The plants turned and detected two figures parting the thick branches.

"If so, we're more than willing to share."


	3. Know Thy Enemy

The plants stared with curiosity at the creatures standing before them. They'd seen a lot of strange things that day, but these two took the cake. They looked like wolves, but they were much bigger. But the most notable thing about them was that they were made entirely of sticks. Peashooter couldn't help but ask, "What in the world are you?"

"We're what you'd call a timberwolf," one said. "We couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

Cabbage-pult narrowed his eyes. "How did you just _happen_ to overhear us?"

"To be honest, we were watching you for some time," The other confessed. "But what do you expect? You're not exactly common around here."

The first nodded. "But whether we were spying or not, your problem still stands. Like I said before, if you need information, we may be able to help."

"And why should we trust you?" Peashooter said.

"You don't have to, but there's no reason why you shouldn't. It's not like we're asking for the keys to your house or anything."

"If we do decide to take this information, what do you expect in return?" Sunflower asked.

"Nothing at all. We simply saw a possible friend in need and want to help."

"Suuuure...," Cabbage-pult said, "excuse us as we talk it over."

The plants turned around and huddled. "There definitely spies," Peashooter stated. "I've never heard of anyone wanting to help someone they just met. They're getting something out of this, we just don't see it."

"Actually, we help Barry without asking for anything in return," Potato Mine reminded. "What makes you think they're not doing the same?"

"We accepted fighting zombies because we thought it was cool. This is entirely different," explained Cabbage-pult. "If you want my opinion, we should tell them to go before they get hurt."

"We _could_ do that," Sunflower said. "But if we do that we might be chasing away our only chance to learn more of our enemy. If these horses attack, we could be vulnerable to the unknown. And considering we have no lawnmowers, we can't afford that."

"'If', 'might', 'could'? Are you sure you're not being paranoid?"

"I'm _not_ being paranoid! That is a perfectly reasonable outcome!"

"And to avoid it, we're going to have to trust them," Potato Mine said. "Besides, what will it hurt?"

"Well, if I'm right," Peashooter said, "and they're spies, they could try to learn our strategy. Maybe even feed us false information. Then we'll most certainly lose our next fight."

"We could ask them questions about the horses we already know, then. If they answer falsely, they either have a bad source, or they're liars."

"That idea might have worked, but we don't know _anything_ about those horses," Sunflower said.

"Oh yeah..."

"At this point, trusting them seems riskier than turning them down."

"We could just ask them if their lying," a wall-nut suggested.

The plants turned and stared at Wall-nut.

"No seriously, this could work." Wall-nut twisted himself around. "Hey, uhh...?"

"I'm Spruce," the first timberwolf said. "My brother here is Oak."

"Okay Spruce, will you guys lie to us?"

Spruce placed a paw on his chest as if offended. "Of course not!"

Wall-nut turned back to his friends. "See? How could you argue with that?"

The plants were silent. "Good enough for me," Peashooter finally said.

"Me too," Sunflower agreed.

"I guess I could go with that," Cabbage-pult admitted.

"Same here," Potato Mine said.

"Fantastic!" Oak cried. "Let's begin with your names."

"That information is on a need-to-know basis," Peashooter said. "And you don't need to know."

"Uhh, okay," Spruce said. "So the animals you were fighting are an intelligent species called ponies."

"Quick question," Potato Mine said. "Are these ponies evil or something? We don't enjoy killing something that isn't already dead unless they deserve it."

"Maybe _you_ don't like it," Cabbage-pult said, "but I don't mind. If Barry tells us to do it, we will."

Potato Mine rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question, Spruce."

Spruce thought it over for a while. "First of all, they attacked the gardener. That makes them hostile."

"It could have been a misunderstanding," Wall-nut said. "Other humans here could have mistreated them."

Spruce shook his head. "Tsk tsk, you poor naive soul. The truth is, they hate other species. It's as simple as that."

Peashooter looked doubtful. "What makes you say that?"

"Maybe this story will shed some light. Once a dragon decided to settle down in a cave somewhere miles away from a pony filled town. Like most, this dragon was able to talk, think, and learn. The ponies weren't excited about the idea of a 'wild animal' near their town. But remember, the dragon was _miles away_. So the ponies agreed to 'take care' of him and set off toward the mountain. Despite the dragon already filling his cave with its money, they forced him out. And it was only because he was different."

"Really?"

"Of course really!" Oak exclaimed, "But that's just the tip of the iceberg, another time a zebra-"

"Okay, we get the picture," Sunflower interrupted. "Though hating other species doesn't deserve a penalty of death. You still haven't given us a valid reason why they're evil."

"Haven't I?!" Spruce shouted.

Sunflower backed up at the timberwolf's sudden outburst.

"Obviously, you don't understand at all! We are like filth under their hooves to them. Our families were murdered because they deemed us inferior! 'Hate' is an understatement to what those... _creatures_ feel about us."

"Okay, I-"

"They've enslaved nature! They fence up sapient pigs for no reason whatsoever! They're trying to take over this world by taking control of everything else. They took over the weather. They conditioned animals so that they can't take care of themselves. They won't allow anything to grow without them knowing of it. This forest is the only place safe from their cruel ways. Oak is the only family I have left to protect." Spruce's face started dripping with tears. "From childhood, we searched vainly to find someone brave enough to fight back. When we saw you plants easily trumping them in battle, we were filled with such joy..."

Spruce couldn't control himself; he started to sob like a little child. The plants looked at each other, feeling pretty terrible. Oak comforted his brother. "Don't worry; soon it'll all be all over."

"Yeah," Wall-nut agreed, "we'll put a stop to this. No more will the ponies treat you like sticks!"

Peashooter face-leafed. "Poor choice of words."

A weak smile spread across Spruce's face. "Th-thank you…"

"But before we could do anything," Sunflower said, "we need information."

Spruce took a moment to compose himself. "Good idea, but let's begin with your traits and abilities. It'll be easier to tell you how you can improve than to spew out knowledge."

"That's reasonable," Sunflower said, "let's start with my abilities..."

* * *

Luna trotted down a stony pathway in shiny silver armor. It had been centuries since she'd been in a battle like this. Still, she was as confident as ever. After a talk with some of the injured guards, she had a good idea of what her opponents looked like and how to take them out. Actually, she had a quite a bit of fun strategizing and organizing.

She slowed her pace as she arrived at a field filled with her specially trained night guards. They wielded swords, shields, crossbows, and spears. Much like the first band of guards who attacked, but much more planned out.

As the guards realized her presence, they stood at attention and waited for orders.

"At ease," Luna commanded.

One of the higher night guards trotted toward her and bowed. "I did everything you asked. Each shield is enchanted to be more durable. On top of that, we gathered more than one hundred trained guards."

"Good, that will be all for now."

The guard nodded and joined his comrades. As the guard left, Celestia walked up and greeted her. "Hello, sister."

"Celestia, you came! Does this mean you'll fight with us as well?"

Celestia's smile faded. "I'm afraid not. I already invited some griffons to dinner and a serious discussion. They have been starting some trouble at the Horseshoe Bay you see."

"Tis a shame, I really hoped we could do this together. Just like old times."

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, just like old times. But don't you think it's reasonable to do this another day? I feel attacking tonight is rushing things too much."

"Maybe, but I won't be able to rest until I personally bring this creature down as soon as I can. This shame it brought upon the kingdom is too great to last much longer!"

"It's not that bad, Equestria has been conquered before."

"Not by plants, sister!"

Before Celestia could argue more, a royal guard trotted up to Celestia. "Excuse me, your highness, but we have to go now."

"Ah yes, I almost forgot." Celestia outstretched her wings. "I wish good luck to you, sister."

Luna waved goodbye and turned to attend to her army.

* * *

A few hours later...

"...and that's basically it," Sunflower ended.

"That was...long," Oak groaned.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Peashooter said. "Now how can we use all that to our advantage?"

"First of all," Spruce started, "I couldn't remember most of what you said."

"What!? Why didn't you interrupt us or-?!"

" _Second_ , I'm pretty sure I could just give you a basic idea on what you're doing. Then you could discuss more complex strats on your own."

Sunflower frowned. "I still think you should have said something earlier."

Oak rolled his eyes. "What was your first attack strategy anyways?"

"Oh, we just sort of shoot the guy in front of us," Peashooter explained.

"Don't forget, we also shoot off one of their limbs first. Then we go for headshots," Cabbage-pult added.

Oak burst out laughing, but then his smile slowly faded. "Oh, you're serious..."

Peashooter started to get mad. "What's wrong with our strategy!?"

"Oh, nothing!" Spruce assured, "it's the perfect strategy...if you were fighting zombies! I mean you have to admit, that plan sounds terrible."

Sunflower folded her leaves. "I'm not even going to comment. What do you suggest?"

"This is an ancient technique that is rarely seen in most battles, but can conquer wars."

"What is it?"

Spruce looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. "It's a thing called...prioritizing your targets."

Sunflower placed a leaf on her chin. "This intrigues me. Please, go on."

"They are three groups of ponies," Spruce continued, "earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Half of you will aim for the pegasi, the ponies with wings. The other half will take on the unicorns, the ponies with horns."

"We got the pegasi!" Cabbage-pult announced.

"So that leaves us with the unicorns," Peashooter said.

"A tip to help those who fight the pegasi: keep them from the clouds. When they latch onto one, they can control the weather. Meaning they can form blizzards and shoot lightning. Those who fight the unicorns, aim for the horn, they can't use magic if you hit them."

"Wait," Sunflower interrupted, "who aims for the third group, the earth ponies?"

Spruce thought for a second. "They're pretty much useless, just hit them when they get too close."

At that moment, Barry walked out the house with his shovel. He paused immediately after seeing the stick creatures. "Huh, _timber_ wolves. Cool." Barry continued his work and raised his shovel in the air. He proceeded to dig up one of the peashooters. As he did, the plants were engulfed in light and shrunk down into something that seemed to be two small suns. Barry took out his gun-shaped device and absorbed it.

"Whoa, what is he doing to you guys?" Oak asked a little concerned.

"You could say he's refreshing us," Sunflower explained. "When we stay out too long, we get tired and won't fight to our fullest. He may replant us, or he might mix it up and replace us."

"So different plants come and take your place, right?"

"Sometimes, yes."

"Don't forget to tell them the new strategy," Spruce reminded. "If not, this conversation would be pointless."

"Don't worry, he usually doesn't replace me."

"Spruce, we have to go now," Oak urged.

"Oh yes, I remember."

Spruce waved goodbye as they both ran back into the forest. "Good luck guys!" they cried as they disappeared into the darkness.

The plants waved back. "Thanks for your help!"

* * *

The timberwolves ran deeper into the forest. "You think we're out of hearing range?" Oak huffed.

"I think so, yes," Spruce answered. They both stopped and grinned. "They were so gullible."

"Yeah, they devoured your 'lost my family' story. Good fake tears, by the way. Now they will attack with no reservations."

"Thanks, the boss will be so pleased when we tell him we succeeded..."


	4. UnderStand and Assess

Like every night, Luna lifted the moon over the horizon. She stood proudly on the balcony of the castle as she did so. Thanks to the moon's soft glow, Luna was able to spot three night guards flying toward Canterlot. She opened her wings and flew out to greet them.

When seeing their princess approaching, the night guards landed and bowed at her presence.

"Guards, what did you find?" Luna asked as she followed them to the ground.

"We've scouted out the Everfree and we've located the house, as you asked," one said.

"And?"

"It's not good news. We've spotted the plants associating with the timberwolves. We don't know what they were doing, but we doubt it's any good."

"Yes, that may be a problem, but I'm sure we can manage."

"Maybe, but I didn't finish. The creature also swamped its plants with mushrooms. If we were to attack now, we would have no clue what we're dealing with."

Luna paused, quite surprised at the sudden turn of events. "That _does_ change everything..."

For a while, Luna remained silent, trying to figure out what to do next. "Come; let us share the news with the others."

Later Luna and the scouts flew towards the company of the night guards. As they landed, the guards lined up in attention and waited for Princess Luna to speak.

"Everypony!" Luna yelled. "Tonight's battle has become more complicated than we thought. The timberwolves are now being involved, so in mid fight, we'll surely be ambushed. Not only that, but the creature has switched his plants. Our strategy now is useless. I believe it's clear what we should do."

All the guards nodded in agreement.

"We should fight harder than ever if we want to overcome these plants tonight."

Surprise and confusion rippled through the crowd. "W-what?" the scout said. "You still want to do this?"

Luna glared at the scout.

"I mean, of course, your highness."

"You all may not think you're capable of winning, but I _know_ we can do this. We can't let this monster scare us with some measly alliances or just switching plants! You are the proud night guards of Equestria! What the royal guards can do, you could do better!"

The guard's confidence rose slightly, but they were still skeptical.

"All we need to do is alter our strategy a bit, and this monster will be on his knees begging for mercy! If you want to stay behind, raise your hooves. Just be prepared to face my wrath!"

No one would dare raise their hoof, even if they wanted to leave.

"Good, now listen up."

* * *

Barry stretched his arms out and yawned. After finishing replacing his plants, he was dead tired. He leaned against the house and reflected on his choice of plants. There was one row of sunflowers and another of sun-shrooms. For range, he planted three rows of scaredy-shrooms. There were two rows of fume-shrooms with pumpkins around them. And finally, puff-shrooms were scattered everywhere.

"Okay shrooms, I'm going to take a quick nap," Barry said. "If we're attacked, the sounds of battle would wake me up…probably."

The plants watched him walk into his house and, as always, forget to close the door.

"Sometimes, I think he does that on purpose," a fume-shroom said. "Right, Scaredy?"

No answer was returned.

"Scaredy-shroom?"

The mushrooms turned to find all the scaredy-shrooms hiding in their caps.

"Scaredy-shroom, are you okay?" a sun-shroom asked. "The zombies aren't even here yet."

"I-I know..." a scaredy-shroom whispered. "It's just... the forest is really spooky-looking..."

"Scary forest?" Puff-shroom said. "What forest- oh..." It dawned on the mushrooms that they weren't on Barry's usual lawn. "How did we get here?"

"Yeah, I meant to mention that," Sunflower said. "In fact, that's probably the reason Barry replanted me."

"Go on."

"According to Barry, we were taken here by a tornado. While he was here, he was attacked by colorful ponies. So you have nothing to be afraid of, Scaredy-shroom."

"Maybe you'll do better without me," Scaredy-shroom suggested. "I'd just mess up and get in the way."

"Dude, they're _ponies_ ," a pumpkin said, "there's no reason to be afraid."

"Ponies are vegetarians, and that's plenty reason to be afraid."

"Ugh," Sunflower said. "Can you talk to him, Balloon-shroom?"

Fume-shroom stood agape at what Sunflower just called him. Sunflower quickly realized her mistake.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!"

"No it's okay," Fume-shroom said, trying to hide away his pain. "I didn't mind."

Sunflower mouthed another sorry and continued. "Let me just finish before I make more of a mess. We're having a change of strategy..."

* * *

Luna and her company of night guards glided over Ponyville and toward the Everfree. The shadows cast over the rooftops of the small homes. Anyone of that town would have panicked had not they already been informed of their passing by. Each of the guards wielded a crossbow and had a small shield strapped to their arm. As they reach the forest, they continued to fly over until they were instructed to land.

"A couple of yards ahead is the creature's house. And be cautious; we don't know when a timberwolf might ambush us," one of the scouts warned.

Luna nodded and pressed forward. Even though she was the only one without night vision, she walked ahead of everyone else. This bravery made her guards even more confident. At least it made some.

"I still can't believe the princess is still going with this mission," a guard whispered to the scout. "We could all die out here if we're not paying close enough attention."

The scout exhaled heavily. "I'm no fan of this idea either. But she's the princess. Even still, I think if we stick with this new plan we could win."

"Yeah...what was the plan again?"

The scout groaned and continued to look ahead.

"Hey, don't blame me. This sudden change left most ponies confused."

"Luna named twenty-five guards to strictly guard our flanks from timberwolf ambushes. In the meantime, the rest would be fighting the plants. I hope you remember which one you're doing."

"Yeah, I'm the one fighting the plants."

"Good, now as you fire at the plants with your crossbow, Princess Luna will guard us with a giant magic shield. We know the shield will break sooner or later, but we'll be prepared. When it does, the princess will flash a bright light with her horn, blinding the plants. That's our cue to swiftly but silently take to the skies. Before the plants know where we are, the princess will create another magic shield. Princess Luna will draw their fire and we'll be able to easily pick them off."

"Ah okay, thanks."

The scout nodded and trotted ahead to Luna. "Your highness, we're approaching the house," he said pointing ahead.

Luna strained her eyes to see what he was pointing at. She was able to detect a small light.

"Positions everypony," Luna ordered. The guards moved into position and waited for the command to fight. They slowly crept toward the house until they could go no more without being spotted. "Alright everypony, CHARGE!"

* * *

I jerked awake at the rapid sound of bows releasing arrows. "Whoa, what's happening?!"

I threw myself to the window and opened it, quickly realizing I was being attacked from behind by the horses. I grabbed for my seed gun, absorbed the lingering sun on the ground. Then I struggled to replace the plants that fell to the arrows. This was going from bad to terrible. Not only did the barrage of arrows never stop, but the horses had a giant magic shield like last time.

"Stinking campers," I grumbled as I grabbed some spare plant food off the shelf. I planted a Stallia and powered it up. Light engulfed the plant and a giant spore cloud burst throughout the area. As I assumed, the shield allowed air to flow through. The spore cloud fazed through and clogged the horse's lungs. Arrows stopped firing as the horses dropped to the ground hacking and coughing. Without much effort, the shield melted away.

I had to hand that one to myself. That was smart thinking; now all I had to do was-

 _Flash!_

"AUGH, MY EYES!"

Everything turned white as I fell backward. I rubbed my eyes and blinked several times, trying to regain my sight. As my vision cleared, I lifted myself to my feet. I looked out the window and saw they put the magic shield back up. Wonderful. But I noticed my plants were looking upward instead of forward. Then I spotted one of the sunflowers trying to get my attention. The sunflower was repeatedly pointing up.

"Wait, don't tell me." I stuck my head out the window and looked up. "Hmm, well-played horses."

Suddenly arrows began to rain from the sky. I jerked back as an arrow whizzed past me. I reached for the Blover seed packet and put it in a slot of the seed gun. As I fired the seed in front of my house, the seed instantly grew into a Blover. The Blover took a deep breath and spun his leaves, creating a huge gust of wind. All the flying horses were blown far away, leaving one, confused horse.

But this one horse was more different than the rest. In fact, it was more like a mixture of all them. The horse was blue and had wings and a horn. It was much bigger than the others and it stood almost my height. And another thing, it was angry. I mean, really angry. Its horn glowed brightly; then it fired a beam that destroyed almost half of my plants. "Hey!" I yelled. "That's cheating!"

" _ENOUGH!_ " it roared, " _PREPARE TO MEET THINE END, FOUL BEAST_!" Its horn began to glow brighter. It was about to shoot again, but I was ready. I fired a seed in front of my house and watched it grow into an ice-shroom. The ice-shroom created a bright flash that froze everything, except my house and plants. The blue horse was frozen in a firing position. I grinned at the feeble attempt this horse had to bring. I walked down the stairs and exited the door.

"Silly horse," I said, walking toward it, "you simply can't beat me. I mean it was a nice strategy and you almost had me. But let's face it, I'm just better."

Suddenly, the ice started cracking. I just smiled as I pointed my seed gun at its feet. I then fired a doom-shroom in front of the thawing horse. "Fire in the hole!"

 _DOOM!_

* * *

In the Canterlot castle, Celestia and several griffons were gathered around a table eating. A few royal guards stood behind Celestia as they listen to the story of the griffons.

"...after your ponies left our town, Gilda spread this 'friendship' thing everywhere." A griffon said. "After a few weeks of skepticism, griffons started to buy it. Thanks to you ponies, we're united once again not only as a kingdom but as friends."

Celestia smiled at this news, but then she got more confused. "Wait, if you now value friendship over money, why did you rob our ships."

The griffons began to laugh. "Did we say we value friendship over money?" one said between laughs. "Nothing is higher that gold to a griffon. Everyone knows that!"

"But-"

"We see friendship as more of a second priority. Besides, it's easier robbing ponies when you're together, am I right?"

The griffons started cracking up, but Celestia wasn't amused. "I think you're taking this the wrong way. Friends don't work together for robbery. They-"

 _CRASH!_

The ceiling suddenly caved in as something crashed into the table, snapping the table in half. A figure weakly rose from the wreckage.

"Luna?!" Celestia said as her sister stumbled forward. "What happened to you?"

"N-nothing," Luna said, struggling not to fall back down.

"Let me help you."

"No! I'm fine!" Luna yelled.

The griffons couldn't help but laugh at Luna's situation. "Oh wow! Whatever could have happened to you?" One snickered.

"Remember guys," a griffon said, "this is why you don't fly and drink at the same time!"

Celestia fought to keep a calm demeanor. "Could...could you please wait outside for me to clear this up? In fact, can we continue this another day?"

The griffons shrugged. "Alright."

As they were escorted out the room, Celestia went to attend her sister. "Luna, are you alright?"

"I'm _peachy_!" Luna cried. "Absolutely fine!"

"You're hurt. Allow me to treat those wounds."

"I'll do it myself!" Luna dragged herself to the door.

Celestia could only pity her sister. "I know you spent a lot of effort in planning this. I'm sorry you didn't-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Luna opened the door and slammed it on her way out. She hobbled to her room; every part of her body ached, but what hurt most was her shattered pride. Luna continued to sulk as she cast a quick healing spell.

"I've been insulted in more ways that I can bear...and it's all that creature's fault! If I ever see it again, I'll tear it apart! How could I be so humiliated!?"

At that moment, she felt like smashing something. But that was something the old Luna would have done. No, she had to clear her mind. Just then, an idea entered Luna's head. She had the ability to enter dreams, so why not enter the creature's? It's been awhile since she made a real horrifying nightmare. Plus, she could learn of its weaknesses for the next encounter. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to do it.

Light filled the room as Luna started the spell. Then in a flash, she disappeared.

* * *

I was in a snowy taiga. I had no idea of how I got there or why. But whatever the reason, I knew I had to get out. Following the path at my feet, I started to make my way out of the taiga. Or at least, I thought I was. Honestly, I wasn't complete sure of anything.

After a time of senseless walking, a purplish blue fog began to form. I attempted to wave the fog away, but to no avail. The fog grew thicker by the second, and soon I couldn't see anything. Just what I needed. I attempted to continue my journey, putting a hand in front of me so I wouldn't run into anything.

After what seemed like an eternity, the purple smoke began to sink into the ground. Relieved I could see again, I sighed and took in my bearings. Somehow, I had managed to wander into a grassy field.

Suddenly, red bony hands tore the ground below me. I jumped back and nearly fell to the floor. Everywhere I looked these hands were popping from the underground. For each hand, one red skeleton emerged from the ground. Everything they touch would rot and encrust in a red substance.

"Oh no...please NO!"

I knew what this was; I knew who they were. I tried to make a break for it, but I was already surrounded. Panic and fear coursed through my blood as I saw all the skeletons raise their arms. In each hand, a hammer and sickle appeared. It was the communist un-dead, my greatest fear.

"Get back!" I yelled. "I'm an American citizen! You can't touch me!"

The skeletons grinned. One opened its mouth and with a scratchy voice, it spoke, "America...is...ded."

I looked at them in disbelief. "Y-you're lying. America is-"

They all laughed their sick, communist laughter. Visions entered my mind. Evil visions. I saw America burning, dying. As I watch everything I knew that was freedom die, tears streamed down my face.

"Impossible..." I managed to utter.

"We already have won. America no longer exists."

I looked down at myself; I was wearing a red shirt with the flag of the Soviet Union. Under the symbol were bold golden letters exclaiming _Communism Rules!_. I fell to my knees and began to sob. Then I began to chuckle. Soon enough, I was doubling over with laughter. The filthy Commies were puzzled.

"Of course! This is a dream. That explains it all. I mean, come on, Communism can't succeed. Communism is the very definition of failure." I rose to my feet. "And now I know this is a dream..."

I closed my eyes as shock wave completely obliterated my enemies.

"...I can end it."

After a while, I couldn't help but notice I was still dreaming. Everything was silent, and the scenery had deteriorated into whiteness. But I was still asleep for some reason. Before I could think of ways to wake myself up, a blue horn started rising from the ground. Then a head followed; next mane. Soon, a whole body emerged from the white floor. I was face-to-face with a very familiar flying unicorn.

"Aren't you that unicorn that cheated?"

"Cheat!?" the unicorn said in disbelief, "I did not cheat! If anything it was thou who cheated, hiding behind your plants. You couldn't handle yourself in a real fight."

At its sudden speech, I backed up. "Wait timeout, you're intelligent? Never would have guessed."

As the unicorn tried to conceal the rage building in her, I couldn't help but smirk.

"Anyway, I don't feel like talking to you now. I have things on my mind." I attempted to snap her away as I did with all my boring dreams. But unlike my boring dreams, she wouldn't disappear. "Why can't I..."

"I am the ruler of the night, controller of dreams. That includes your petty dreams, fool."

"Wait, you're not a part of my dream?"

"Who's the intelligent one now? I came here to finish what I started tonight, and there is nothing you can do about it." The unicorn extended its wings, as thousands of creatures flew from the sky. The creatures had a head and body of a lion, but their ears and wings were that of bats. And for a tail, was a giant scorpion tail. The faces of these terrifying creatures all lusted for blood.

"Uck, I think I'll pass." I again tried to snap them away, but apparently, the horse had more power than me in my own dream.

As the creatures landed, their attention was on me. As they saw that I was unprotected, they all roared and charged at me. It was a race to tear away my flesh, but I wasn't going to make it easy for them. I crouched down, concentrated and made a brick dome around me. The animals slashed and struck at the dome with enough force to level a city. I could barely hold the thing up.

"I-if I die, I wake up, right?" I said.

The unicorn didn't answer me. In fact, I doubt it even heard me over the constant growling and banging. One of the bricks broke and I was able to see the gnarling teeth of the lion things. I couldn't take any chances that I might die, so I had to talk my way out. "You say I'm hiding behind my plants, but look at what you're doing now! You're even more pathetic than me!"

"Child, do not compare me with the likes of you," the unicorn said.

"Hey, I'm only stating the facts! Why don't you prove that I can't fight on my own?"

"I don't have to prove anything to you."

More bricks were tearing apart and the creature's' paws could almost reach me. "J-just give me a sword or something. I'll have you begging for mercy!"

I was starting to sound desperate, but thankfully the unicorn bought it. "Fine! I'll show you how weak you are!"

The creatures suddenly disintegrated, along with my protection. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not, but I knew I would find out. Before I could turn around, my breathing was suddenly cut off and I was lifted a few inches in the air. The horse was using her magic to "force choke" me.

"You were foolish in challenging us," The horse said, tightening her grip.

"Seriously," I choked, "Who's 'us'? Are you hiding a mouse in your mane or something?" I pulled out some butter and chucked it at her horn, causing her to drop me. "Mind you, this is still a dream. We _both_ may be able to control it, but it's still a dream. Meaning...MACHINE GUN!"

As a machine gun spawned in my hand, I relentlessly fired at the unicorn. The unicorn managed to teleport away before it was hit. "This wasn't part of the deal!"

"I only said no army, not no weapons!"

"Fine then..." There was a bright flash and we were both at the bottom of the ocean.

"Huh, I didn't say we couldn't change the background either. Well played."

The unicorn frowned in disappointment. "You've apparently mastered breathing underwater as well."

I grinned. "Oh, so that's what you were trying to do! I've mastered quite a few skill in my drea-"

Before I could finish, the horse bucked my face. Why didn't I see that coming?

I spawned a giant war hammer. "Try it again, I dare you!"

I darted toward the horse like a torpedo. But before I got close enough, the horse suddenly opened a portal. All the water began to get sucked too the other side. I stopped immediately and I tried to swim away, but I was caught in the current. Soon, I was pulled to the other side. I found myself floating through…

"Space? I'll hand it to that horse, it has imagination."

I twisted myself so I was facing the portal, just in time to see the flying unicorn float through. I threw my hammer at the horse, causing it to fly backward. I laughed as it struggled for balance.

"I know space is fun, but can we focus on the battle at hand?"

The horse spawned a cannon and fired it. The cannonball plowed into my gut as I sailed backward. "Ow..."

This went on for a few minutes. I'd summon some ridiculous weapon and use it, and the horse would do the same. In the meantime, we jumped from scenery to scenery.

It was getting really dumb really fast. I snapped my fingers and we were teleported back to earth. "I think we could agree that if we in a fight, it'd be a tie," I said.

"Of course not!" the unicorn yelled. "The fact that we're in your dream is the only reason you're not dead now!"

"Speaking of which, I think I'm going to call your bluff."

"Bluff?"

"If I die, I wake up. That's how it always works. I doubt you have any more power to kill me from inside here than you have out there in the real world."

The horse said nothing.

I folded my arms and smirked. "I knew it. You got nothing on me."

The horse smiled deviously. "Now that's where you're wrong."

Suddenly, chains shot from the ground and wrapped around my wrist and ankles. With a terrible tug, I was thrown to the floor and forced to my knees. The more I struggled to get up, the tighter the grip. Even my ability to control my dream was failing. "What are you doing?!"

The horse started charging a spell, "As an alicorn, I swore to never use mind control on anypony. But then again, you're no pony..."

"Mind control?! You can't be serious!"

The horse approached me and put its horn over my head. "We will free thee of thy violent ways."

As the spell hit me, I felt as if my will was being drained and replaced with communism. Suddenly, I started glowing red, white, and blue. I broke my chains and punched the horse's face. "Ha! You cannot mind control a citizen of the US of A!"

The horse backed up. "How is this possible!?"

"In my country, there is one concept we value above all others." A single tear rolled down my cheek. "That concept is known as freedom. We have come to value it so much, that our brains furiously resist all mind control attempts."

"..." Luna was dumbfounded. "That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."

I spawned a radio in my hand. "I'm gonna need 50 megatons of freedom over here." As soon as I said that, I heard whistling. "Well, I can't say this hasn't been fun, but I've gotten pretty bored of this dream."

Before the horse could react, a bomb fell on her. The gigantic explosion rang out across the dreamscape. But instead of being a mushroom-shaped cloud, it was eagle-shaped.

* * *

A/N:

I have the sneaking suspicion that Barry is an American. Crazy right?


	5. We Need Anthers!

"Oh my goodness! Luna, are you okay?! Luna? Oh no! Guards! Somepony help!"

Celestia, having just raising the sun, had only wanted to check up on her sister. Maybe even to encourage her after the loss she suffered. But as Celestia entered the room, she was welcomed only by horror.

Not a second later, two guards burst into the room. "Yes, your-"

They never got to finish, for they were struck dumb. Princess Luna lied motionless on the floor. Whether she was still alive or not, they didn't know.

"Get a doctor," Celestia ordered. "Now!"

The guards saluted and bolted out the door. In the meantime, Celestia quickly checked for Luna's heartbeat. She sighed in relief; Luna was still alive. She lifted her sister with her magic and laid her on her bed. Somehow, she knew permitting Luna to fight would only bring more bereavement. Yet Celestia once again did nothing to stop it. Or maybe if she postponed the griffon meeting, they'd have prevailed against the creature. Celestia felt nothing but guilt, but that wouldn't help her sister.

After half an hour, the door finally swung open, revealing the guards. They marched in with unusually uncomfortable expressions. But that wasn't the first thing Celestia noticed.

"Where's the doctor?"

The guards glanced at each other nervously. "Your highness, we couldn't find any of Canterlot's usual doctors," one explained. "I don't know all the details, but I think they've all gone on vacation or something."

Celestia's eye twitched. "Vacation? Why did they all decide to go on vacation? Now of all times?" She did a good job to keep from yelling, but from her tone of voice, you could tell she was upset.

"Well, not all them...but we've never seen him before."

"If he's skilled in aiding sick ponies, I'm sure he's qualified. Please, bring him in."

The guards nodded then turned to the door. "You can enter now."

From the door, came a light gray stallion. He wore a sharp light blue lab coat with a black belt strapped around his hip. Blue rubber gloves covered his front hooves and stretched almost to his knees. His stylish mane was black with a hint of gray. Small round glasses rested on his snout, gleaming brightly. He looked well-dressed and formal. But despite his pleasant look, something seemed off about him. And the guards could sense it too. But whatever it was, it didn't matter.

"My name is Dr. Bonesaw," the doctor said. "I believe I vill be helping your sister, correct?"

"Yes," Celestia said, "she's over here. Can you help her? She may have been like this all night, but I'm not sure."

Dr. Bonesaw nodded in understanding and walked toward the wounded princess.

Suddenly, the door burst open. A guard stormed in, looking for Celestia. The two guards caught him before he plowed straight into her. "Princess Celestia! The rest of the Night Guards has been found!"

Those words seized Celestia's attention. "Where?"

* * *

"Everything in here..." I said, barely able to contain my rage, "has spoiled!"

I slammed the fridge shut, rattling its useless contents. I steamed to the living room to retrieve my seed gun.

" _You didn't have much in there, to begin with..._ " Sunflower mumbled.

I wasn't sure, but I knew something sarcastic left that Sunflower's mouth. This was the reason I usually kept my house free from these plants. Because of the mouth I constantly got. But thanks to the power outage, I began relying on them more and more.

At that moment, Marigold hopped toward me, holding a Snow Pea packet. Once getting my attention, she handed the seed packet to me.

I smiled and thanked the Marigold. She was one of the few plants that were actually quite helpful. I'd use her more if it wasn't for the fact she was completely useless for combat.

I planted a bunch of ice plants in the fridge. After doing so, I walked back into the living room. I then proceeded to collapse on the couch. I gazed at the ceiling, replaying that strange dream in my head. Something still bothered me about it, more specifically, that winged unicorn. Did it really infiltrate my dream? Or was my subconscious that crazy? The answer: who cares? Whether it was legit or not, it made me realize an important fact. These horses were probably intelligent.

I really should've realized this sooner. I mean, you'd think the armor and planned attacks would be a dead giveaway.

The question now is how is this going to affect me? In short, a lot. Every battle they fight is a learning experience for them. Unlike the zombies who fall for the same tricks, they'd be stronger with each fight.

Normally, this wouldn't worry me. But after taking inventory, I learned a few things. All but one of my lawnmowers have been totaled. I thought about using it, but what good would that do? Not only that but most my power-ups are missing. Namely, the power snow, power toss, power flame, and power pinch.

Other than the power zap, I have no backup in case the fight went south. And to be perfectly honest, that sort of frightened me. I only have so many plants, can I really hold out against them? Could I actually lose?

"Nah!"

* * *

Celestia paced anxiously outside of Luna's door. It's been half an hour and she was still waiting for Dr. Bonesaw to finish. At least this gave Celestia time to reflect on the creature and its house.

It was a mystery how the night guards ended up unconscious on the roofs of Ponyville's houses. Thankfully, Ponyville's hospital took the wounded guards in for treating. According to the doctors, they suffered from some kind of fall. In fact, that speculation fits well with what happened to Luna.

 _What possibly could've happened to cause that?_ Celestia thought. She made a note to question one of those night guards later that day.

But despite the unanswered questions, Celestia felt as if something had to be done. The creature must've needed a great amount of power to decimate an army of a hundred and an alicorn princess. This proved it was dangerous as she suspected.

Celestia's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the door creaking open. Dr. Bonesaw was finally done, but his expression suggested bad news. He slowly closed the door behind him and sighed deeply. "Zat took longer zan I sought..."

Celestia hated to asked, but she needed to know. "Will...will she be alright?"

A smile managed to form on Dr. Bonesaw's face. "No."

"I hope you don't mean she's going to..."

"Oh, zere's still hope for her, but it's slim. I can easily deal vith her physical vounds, but it looks like she's suffering from great mental trauma. It might take veeks for her to recover from somesing like zat. I'll do my best, but zere's a good chance she may never vake up again."

Celestia stood in silence, trying to process the doctor's words. He sure didn't sugarcoat anything. Speaking seemed pointless since nothing she said could change the diagnosis. But there was one thing she could do. She thanked Dr. Bonesaw for his time and turned down the hall. But before she got far, she was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. Celestia turned to see Dr. Bonesaw.

"Princess, I understand vat you're going zrough. You feel zat you're losing control of everyzing. And zat nozing vill change unless you did somesing about it. And you're right. But you have to be careful not to do anyzing irrational."

"Irrational?" Celestia questioned.

"You know vat I mean. Granted, zis isn't any of my business. I shouldn't tell you how to do your job in as much as you shouldn't mine. But I have a feeling you're about to make a poor decision."

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Sink of it zis vay. If zis monster can easily launch an alicorn and her army across ze map, vat do you sink you could do? You could try to fight, but you'd end up like your sister or vorse. Zis country needs you _alive_ , so I suggest you move as far as possible from zat house."

"So what do you want me to do? Send more innocent ponies to their deaths while I lie idle in my castle?"

Dr. Bonesaw chuckled. "Trust me, no army you could muster vould be able to match zat sing. At least, not vizout massive bloodshed."

"Look, if you're suggesting we give up..."

"No no, of course not. I'm merely suggesting zat brute force vill only bring more disaster. Ze creature outnumbers us; its army is infinite. To beat such an overpowered being such as zat requires strategy."

"Strategy? Hmm…I don't suppose you have any ideas."

"Vell..." Dr. Bonesaw smiled pridefully. "I've been in a few scuffles myself. I know a zing or two about strategy." Dr. Bonesaw returned to his serious state. "But I can't guarantee everyone survival. Zis battle might sacrifice some lives. It's your choice. Vee could go vith my plan or vee could just give up pursuing zis creature."

Celestia thought it over. "What's your strategy?"

* * *

The next day...

"...If you use the priorities I gave, fighting these ponies should be a lot easier," Sunflower concluded.

She'd just finished dumping a truckload of exposition on the rest of the plants. Though Sunflower had finished, the plants were still slightly confused. But they dared not say it in fear she'd start over.

"Is everyone cool with this?"

Kernal-pult's eyes lit up. "Yeah, is everyone _cool_ with this?"

Snow Pea rolled his eyes, knowing the joke was directed at him. "Wow, never heard that one before..."

"No need to be so _cold_ , Snow Pea!" Spikeweed remarked.

Kernel-pult laughed. "Exactly! You need to _snow_ when to _chill_!"

All the plants joined in on the laughter.

" _Ice_ one, Kernal!" Spikeweed said.

"Yeah," Snow Pea muttered, "hilarious."

"Hmm, _icy_ Snow Pea isn't enjoying our puns," Sap-fling joked.

"I just don't understand," Snow Pea said. "Iceberg Lettuce is standing right over there. Why am I your target and not him?"

"Because he's adorable," Kernel-pult explained. "Isn't that right widdle guy?"

"Why am I cursed with these adowably large eyes...," Iceberg Lettuce mumbled.

"D'awww," the plants cooed.

"But really Snow Pea," Sap-fling said, "you shouldn't take these puns personally. You should learn to... _let it go_."

All the plants burst into cheerful laughter. Snow Pea sighed, but still managed to smile. "Alright, alright, that's enough. The ponies could be arriving any moment. We're on thin _ice_ here, so let's stay _frosty_."

The plants were completely silent.

"Oh come on! That was a good one!"

The plants shushed the Snow Pea as they remained silent. "Do you hear that?" Sunflower said.

For a while, all the plants listened intensely.

"It was probably-"

Before she could finish, a faint cry echoed within the forest. " _Charge!_ "

At the back of the house...

The plants could hear the clash of battle growing louder from the front of the house. There was certainly a battle going on. If only they could see what was going on. Were they winning or were they losing? Only time could truly tell.

"Do you see anything, Sunflower?" Sap-fling asked.

One of the Sunflowers at the ends peered around the house, trying to make out what was going on. "I could see part of the battle, but not much," she replied.

"How I wish I was in that fight right about now," Spikeweed said. "Real unicorns...ha! I find that hilarious! I wonder how resistant they are against my spikes piercing their hooves..."

The plants looked at him in disgust. "Just...no."

"Yo Sunflower, do you see any of the ponies?"

Sunflower leaned in further to get a better view. "I do, but I'm not sure what they're doing."

"What do you mean?" Snow Pea asked.

"They're just standing there, allowing their shields to tank all our shots. Are they trying to wear us out or something?"

"Psh, good luck with that," Spikeweed taunted.

"What are you planning ponies..." Sunflower mumbled.

"Since we have some free time," another Sunflower said, "let's use it to review our battle plan."

A loud groan swept among the plants. But that didn't stop Sunflower from clearing her throat and-

"Guys, the ponies, they're gonna ambush us!" Iceberg Lettuce cried, interrupting Sunflower.

And he was right. Several silhouettes crept in the shadows of the forest. But though he was right in his assumption, his cuteness betrayed him.

"Are you trying to tell us something widdle guy?" They said.

"Yes, look! They're hiding there!" He motioned constantly at the figures in the forest ahead.

"Y'know, you're the only guy who can cheer me up when I'm disappointed," Spikeweed said.

"CAN ONE OF YOU TAKE ME SEWIOUSLY!"

" _CHARGE!_ "

* * *

The plan was going perfectly. A decoy squad distracted the plants from the front while lowering the defense of the back. When the signal was given, the ponies struck the plant's defenses furiously. It was happening, they were finally winning! Each of the guards felt untouchable as none had taken any serious damage. The plants were completely helpless.

But then, the plants actually started firing. Almost instantly, the battle was thrown in their favor. They were immediately nailed with frozen peas and rained on by sap and butter. By the looks of it, this was their worst battle yet.

But still, the ponies didn't back down for a second. They charged with their swords held high, willing to lay down their life for their country. Sadly, their bravery was not rewarded. The sap scattered on the ground made it almost impossible to advance. Butter smashed into their faces, blinding them. The frozen peas had a chilling effect which slowed their movement significantly. The were covering no ground at all.

"L-lieutenant," a guard said, shivering from the cold. "Th-this isn't-t w-working."

"I know!" Their leader yelled. "We should probably..."

At that moment, a loud cry was heard from the back of the army. "Leeeeet's do iiiiit!"

A purple pony charged to the front of the rush while snatching a sword from a guard's hoof. The pony then did a miraculous leap over the spikes and sap. Without taking a hit, the pony swiftly passed the ice spheres and sliced three snow peas in half with one swing.

"Now that is a bloody domination!" the pony cried as she stumbled backward, somehow avoiding the projectiles.

"Is that pony mad?!" a guard exclaimed.

"I think she's drunk!" another said.

"Whatever she is, she's distracting the plants. Let's use this to our advantage and continue fighting!"

"No," the lieutenant said, "this mission was doomed from the start. Even if we get a slight upper hoof, that creature will use that magic leaf of his to finish us off. Grab that pony and fire the signal; we're retreating."

The guards were surprised at their leader's orders. If Shining Armor was leading, he'd fight to the end. But whether they wanted to or not, they needed to follow orders. Two earth ponies ran to the purple pony's aid.

"Gonna kill you and I'll keep killin' you and I'll never, cause you're 'onna be dead and then I'm gonna kill you," the pony slurred.

"My goodness I think you're right, she _is_ drunk!"

"Seems like even a drunken pony is braver than we are..."

A unicorn fired a magical firework into the sky, and the remaining ponies fled into the forest.

* * *

An angry hoof slammed on top of the table. "What the hay just happened out there?!" a royal guard yelled.

Several hours had passed since the ponies lost to the plants. But though the battle was over, the sting of defeat was ever-present. Princess Celestia had just called a meeting to discover the very question that had been asked. Now, she and some participants of this battle intended to answer it.

"Weren't you there? We lost," another guard mumbled.

"This is why you don't take any advice from a doctor," one said.

"He was only trying to help," Celestia said, "and I myself thought it was a decent plan."

"Well, it wasn't. We were beaten senseless out there."

Princess Celestia sighed patiently. "Maybe you could be more specific about what happened. After all, I'm the only one here who wasn't present during the event."

"Allow me, your highness," Lieutenant Blockade said.

Without any shame, he described the battle in detail, leaving nothing out. From the feeling of victory at the beginning, to the wake-up slap of reality towards the end. It was actually quite funny, considering how blunt he was. Some of the guards even snickered at the beating their comrades suffered.

"Can you describe the plants you've encountered?" Celestia asked.

Blockade nodded. "With sunflowers as an exception, most of them were variations the first ones we've seen. The pea-shooters were light blue and fired frozen peas enchanted with a slowing effect. The cabbage catapults had two variations. One looked like a sapling and threw pinecones dripping with sticky sap. The other looked like half a corn stuck into the ground; it lobbed butter and pieces of corn. A few new plants were also seen during battle. Such as plants disguised as spikes, and ice lettuces that freeze ponies when touched."

"I see..." Celestia said. "Judging by how calm you are, I assume it wasn't a total loss."

Blockade smirked at Celestia's observation. "No, it wasn't."

The guards looked at him, confused. They never heard of any progress being made.

He turned to one of the guards. "Would you like to explain to everypony what you've discovered?"

All eyes were fixed on the guard as he nodded and began to speak. "As you know, our squad was instructed to draw the creature's attention to the front. That way, the creature will be too busy to deal with the sneak attack from the back. While we did so, we were able to examine the plants from the safety of our shields. We've noticed that, when firing constantly, the plants have breaks between every shot. They had a charge time or reloading time before firing again. For the shooting plants, their reload time was exactly 1.5 seconds. For the lobbing plants, their reload time was exactly 3 seconds. We're not sure if this rule applies to all plants, but it's still a good thing to keep in mind."

"That is certainly interesting," Celestia commented. "But I fail to see how it is helpful."

"Well, it really isn't..." the guard admitted, "but it's also not the only thing we've learned. We learned that these plants seem to have sapience. They planned and strategized each of their attacks like second nature. At one point, they stopped firing and waited for our defenses to drop. After a while, they'd attack all at once, knocking us back. Clearly, there was some intelligence at work."

Celestia thought it over. "Wouldn't it make sense that the creature simply gave them orders and the plants obeyed?"

"That may be the case, but that only confirms the creature's intelligence. But that wasn't the point I wanted to expand upon. We've noticed something else about these plants. Something extremely vital if we want to defeat them."

"Which is?" a guard asked.

"The sunflowers," he stated firmly. "Have any of you figured out what they do? After all, they've been in every battle."

Everyone took a moment to determine an answer. "We give up. What do they do?"

The guard leaned back in his chair. "These sunflowers seem to do nothing but produce miniature suns. But does anyone take the time to see where those suns go? If left alone, the suns will disappear. But most of them are gathered by the creature with some sort of device. With this same device, he makes more plants. Is anypony making the connection?"

The ponies sat there dumb, still trying to put the pieces together. Celestia's eyes suddenly lit up. "To make more plants, the creature needs the sunflower's suns!"

"Which means..."

All the guards finally understood. "If we destroy the sunflowers, we defeat the plants!"

"Yes!"

Hope had finally returned to the ponies. Maybe with this newfound knowledge, they could win.

But amongst the happiness, was an irritated groan. "You ponies really think you've learned something here?" a guard said, shaking his head. "Yes, we know which plant to target now. But has any of you remembered we have trouble destroying _one_ plant? How are we going to wipe out a whole line of the ones hiding in the back?"

Everyone's smiles slowly vanished as their morale was crushed by his words.

"So then... it really is impossible to beat them...," a guard finally uttered.

"No, we just have to think harder," Celestia assured. "There could be other ways of winning that we just can't see. If we put our heads together, we can find something."

"I really don't see the point," another guard said. "Why don't we allow this creature to live in its house. It's not going to hurt anypony from there."

Celestia sighed. "We can't do that. Not again. We must deal with it before-"

"Wait a minute, your highness," the lieutenant said, "that maybe a good idea."

"How?"

"Instead of fighting these plants, we could camp around the house. Eventually, the creature will run out of food, and as we know, all living things need food and water. We'll force it to surrender or die of starvation, but either way, it won't be our problem anymore."

The same guard that shot down their first plan did the same to this one. "Couldn't it just eat its own plants? It has an endless supply of them, and they look edible enough."

"The creature also needs air to survive. Maybe we could try smoking it out."

"Actually, we've recently discovered there's a plant that can make huge gusts of wind. That's how the night guards were defeated last night. The creature will use it to blow the fumes back in our faces."

The room was filled with silence. "Wow, you really are a downer."

The guard shrugged. "I'm just saying..."

"If we can't chase the creature out, we're forced to break in," Celestia said plainly. "Does anypony have any ideas of doing that?"

"Hey, why don't we try teleporting into the house?" a guard suggested.

This time, the whole room burst into laughter. "Don't you know what happens when you teleport into an object?" a guard finally asked.

"Um, you... impale yourself?"

"Exactly! Now, explain what might happen if we tried teleporting into a house we have no mental image of?"

"...You could impale yourself..."

"And that's not a pretty sight."

More silence followed as the group tried to determine an answer. Slowly, a hoof raised amongst them.

"Do you have a question, private?" Blockade asked the guard.

"Actually, I have an idea. Let's have one more attack, except with the crystal guards. Put Flash Sentry in the front, and while they're in the heat of battle, tell everypony else to back off."

Celestia frowned. "What will that accomplish?"

The guard grinned devilishly. "We'll finally rid Equestria of its greatest threat..."

Blockade groaned. "Look, it all boils down to this. We know the royal and night guards are incapable of winning normally. I'm sure the same goes for the crystal guards. Somehow, we need to use this information we discovered and give it to ponies that could actually benefit from it. At the time, those ponies aren't us."

"Who do you suppose those ponies are then?" Celestia asked.

"We need ponies that are brave and daring. We need ponies that are fast and evasive. We need ponies that can think quickly and plan effectively. We need ponies like..."

At that moment, Soarin opened the door holding a handkerchief. "Hey, did anypony drop this?"

The guards simply stared.

"What?"

* * *

A/N:

Haha, I love puns. Also, who knows what that drunk pony is referencing? Because I have no clue.


	6. An Apple A Day

Books piled on the floor as Twilight de-shelved her library. She took down each book and, after briskly scanning the contents, added it to the pile. Shelf by shelf was emptied by the purple alicorn.

"Spike! Did you find anything?" she called to her assistant, levitating several books.

Spike lied lazily on a pile of books. He was reading an interesting book he'd just found. "Nope, nothing yet," he replied.

Twilight levitated Spike's book with her magic. "I understand you had other plans for the day," Twilight said. "I did too. But when Princess Celestia gives an order, we make it our top priority."

"Yeah, but Princess Celestia didn't order you. She asked you," Spike countered. "If you'd simply said 'no'..."

Twilight scoffed, "Say 'no' to the princess? You must be mad! If I'd refused, she'd-"

"Remove your wings and send you back to magic kindergarten?"

"Very funny Spike."

Spike chuckled at his own joke then leaped off the pile. He then chose a stack of books and quickly skimmed through each page.

Shortly afterward, Starlight walked through the door. "Don't tell me it's re-shelving day already," she grumbled.

"Not exactly," Twilight said. "Do you remember the creature I told you about? The one in the Everfree Forest?"

"Oh, the one that beat you and your friends up? Didn't you say Princess Celestia had it under control?"

"Well... It's starting to be more of a problem than Princess Celestia anticipated. Already it has defeated two companies of guards along with Princess Luna."

"Princess Luna!?" Starlight said in astonishment. "How!?"

"It didn't do it by itself. Somehow, while we were gone, it grew an army of plants to defend its house."

"I still think it's kinda funny," Spike remarked.

"No, it's actually very serious, Spike," Twilight said, motioning to the books.

Spike sighed and continued searching through books.

"Princess Celestia requested that we learn everything we could about the creature and its war plants. That way, they might find some weakness."

"Which would explain the books," Starlight said.

Twilight nodded. "As you could see, I'm not having much luck at it..."

"Maybe if you describe this creature to me, I could help you look," Starlight suggested.

Twilight searched the back of her mind. After all, she had only seen the thing once. "Now that I think about it, it was much like a minotaur. Only it didn't have hooves or much hair. It was also less muscular and wore clothes. But its face was somewhat round, having no snout."

Starlight nodded and chipped in with the search. But even with another helping hoof, no progress was being made. Books about minotaurs, plants, the Everfree Forest, and even tornadoes were stacked in a pile. The mares had already started rechecking the books for any missed information. Two full hours had slowly passed before Starlight sat down.

"You know, Sunburst would be really good at this," Starlight said. "He has a knack for researching and tracking down certain books."

"Yes, I suppose," Twilight mumbled, turning the pages to a book.

Starlight cocked her head slightly. "Are you still in that same book? In fact, it doesn't look like you're even reading it."

Twilight looked down and noticed she was right. She grinned innocently as she lowered the book. "Whoops."

Starlight wasn't impressed. "You really don't want to do this, huh?"

"No, that's not it. I'm glad to be helping the princess. And I welcome the opportunity to review and reshelf all these books. It's just..."

"Just what?"

Twilight sighed. "I just don't understand Princess Celestia's reason to jail the creature at all."

"What don't you get?"

"I mean, it did try to hurt us, but I don't blame it completely. It was scared and acted out of self-defense."

"But what about those soldiers? And your brother? After the suffering it caused, you still think it deserves mercy?"

"Though I'm not happy about what it did, it was all still in self-defense. We were the ones bringing trouble at its doorstep. We created an army to make war against it. All it did was protect itself."

Starlight smirked. "You've been talking to Fluttershy lately, huh?"

"Well...yes. But she makes a valid point. Plus, her worry for the creature isn't the reason I'm upset. Ponies are supposed to be peaceful and kind. Since when did we go around fighting things we didn't understand? I'm mostly surprised at Princess Celestia. After everything she taught me, I didn't think she'd act so irrationally. I might understand her wanting to protect her subjects, I guess. But shouldn't we deal with this the way we know how? Friendship?"

"I was wondering when you were going to suggest something like that. But really, if you're that worried, just go tell Princess Celestia. Wouldn't she understand?"

Twilight thought for a while. "Perhaps. But I don't want to disrespect her judgment."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Are we going to clean this mess up or what?"

"In a moment," Twilight said, levitating another book. "I can't say I'm not curious to know more about this creature. I don't know why, but it feels like I've heard about it before. But I can't remember when or from whom..."

A mint colored pony, which was hiding in the room, silently slipped out the door.

* * *

I dove inside my house just as a lightning bolt struck were my feet had left. Wow, that one was close! I scrambled to my feet and raced toward the window. Upon reaching my destination, I watched the battle at hand. I've been attacked by many things, but never by a cluster of storm clouds.

Constant lightning struck my plants below. It was only by dumb luck I had filled my lawn with only lightning reeds, electric peashooters, and a few electric blueberries. The coordinated plants fired their electricity and deflected the lightning. But few lightning bolts still managed to slip through, causing a plant's fiery demise.

The flashes of light forced me to look away every now and then. The roar of thunder impaired my hearing. And to top it off, it began raining heavily. But despite it, I managed to hold my gaze long enough to see a flying horse in blue pajamas dive-bombing my plants. Is this horse for real? I almost laughed until I realized its intentions. Somehow, it effortlessly dodged the electric beams and electric balls as it moved straight for the sunflowers. In a swift motion, the horse uprooted two sunflowers and discarded them.

The horse's idiotic bravery encouraged several more horses to follow. At least two dozen horses revealed themselves and joined the first. So it was them who were behind this!

In our defenses, the electric blueberries created a barricade of lightning clouds. Yet, the horses skillfully kicked the clouds and removed them. My plants tried to keep the horses back, but that plus reflecting the lightning bolts was too much. One by one, sunflowers were plucked from my army.

These horses definitely weren't the same ones I fought a few days ago. They'd clearly stepped up their game. But as all attempts, it was in vain. The horses forgot one important flaw to their plan. I smugly planted a blover on the field.

But the horses wouldn't allow it. With their quick reflexes and incredible speed, they managed to uproot the blover.

"Whaaaaaat."

This was bad, really bad. I was losing my sunflowers fast. My options were now limited since I couldn't afford any expensive plants. The only possible way to win was by the blover.

Again, I planted another blover but got the same results. I was beginning to get frustrated. With the use of the plant food and Instant Recharge, I began planting blovers one after the other. But the horses were simply too quick. They dived, dodged, and always got their target.

Only a few sunflowers remained; I couldn't let them go to waste. I used two more plant food and gained an extra 300 sun. I only watched as the remaining sunflowers were uprooted. Now I had to use what I had left sparingly.

I turned away from the battle and put my mind to work. There had to be a way out of this that I'm not seeing. If only I had a plant fast enough to shoot the horses down.

My eyes lit up. "If I can't be faster than them. Maybe I could just slow them down!"

I quickly grabbed an iceberg lettuce seed packet and-

"What in the... a blizzard?!"

And boy what a blizzard it was. Without me knowing it, the rain had quickly switched to snow. And the snow was building up faster than normal. Though I couldn't see much through the thick snowfall, I could tell my plants were completely buried. My only protection was literally six feet under.

"There goes that plan," I grumbled. I took a deep breath and sat down. Though the situation was dire, I was able to calmly think. Time seemed to slow as I was sealed in intense thought. It was times like these why I never lost a fight. My mind reeled with plants, patterns, and possibilities. I was completely focused.

The power zap came to mind. Though victory would be almost assured, I rather keep it a secret from the horses. Only when absolutely necessary will I use it.

After a whole second of thought, I had an answer. "Wow, I feel like an idiot..." I said.

I planted a jalapeno to clear some of the snow. Immediately after, I planted an umbrella leaf. The answer was so obvious, I overlooked it. Without skipping a beat, I plant the final blover. It was over, or so I thought.

Without warning, both plants were ripped from the ground. Confused, I look around for the cause. My jaw dropped as I looked ahead.

"They can make tornados!?"

Yep, right before my eyes was a small tornado. This was definitely overkill.

Blue blurs circled the tornado over and over. I assumed it was the pajama horses sustaining the tornado from within. I wonder what would happen their flow was disrupted...

I started to time the horses as they spun around in circles. I opened my palm and spawned a blob of butter. With great precision, I reeled my hand back, chucked it, and nailed a pajama horse's face. Blinded, the horse lost control and rammed into its companions. The tornado began to wind down, leaving the horses in the air temporarily disoriented. With a triumphant grin, I planted one more blover.

"Time to blow away the competition."

The blover took a deep breath, groaned at the pun, then blew as hard as he could.

* * *

The Wonderbolts shot over Ponyville with speed comparable to Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. They were heading straight for the Canterlot Mountain. And at their speed, the impact wouldn't be pretty. Luckily, the pegasi were trained to recover from a situation like this. They outstretched their wings and allowed drag to slow them down. But to their surprise, they were still moving too fast. Everyone braced for impact as they plowed into the mountain.

"Augh!" Soarin cried, "my leg! I-I think it's-"

"S-suck it up, Soarin!" Spitfire snapped, wincing at the pain of her twisted wing. "We were so close to winning until you clumsily lost balance!"

"Spitfire!" Fleetfoot cried, "His leg is broken, and the rest of us is wounded badly. Can we at least take care of that before you start to lecture him?"

"Well as you can see, none of us are doctors, and the nearest one is up this steep mountain." Spitfire turned to the rest of the wonderbolts. "Can any of you fly and get help?"

The ponies looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"Terrific. Looks like we could either take a long hike to Ponyville, or we could finish climbing the mountain by hoof."

"Both seem almost impossible in our state," Blaze added.

"Then I'll try to go up myself to get some help."

"No, we'll go together! None of us gets left behind!" Misty Fly said.

Spitfire smiled at her team's determination. "Fine, we'll help each other as we climb this thing. Follow me."

It was somewhere during the afternoon when the Wonderbolts finally scaled the mountain. They were tired, hungry, and in pain. Their wounds hurt a lot more than when they crashed now. It was clear they were in desperate need for medical attention.

"Hallo!" a voice greeted.

The Wonderbolts looked around in confusion. Their eyes landed on a pony in a lab coat.

"I am Dr. Bonesaw. Ze princess told me to take care of your injuries vhen you returned. I spotted you valking up ze mountain, so I came here to assist."

"A doctor," Soarin said in relief, "just what we needed."

"Ze hospital is just right here," Bonesaw said, "you should come vith me."

The Wonderbolts nodded and limped after him. Not long after, they followed the doctor into a small building. As soon as they walked in, the doctor slammed the door and locked it.

"Er...doc, is that really necessary?" Fleetfoot asked.

"I know vat I'm doing," he assured.

Something was off about this doctor, and even the room itself was strange. It looked more like an odd house without windows than an actual hospital. And something about Dr. Bonesaw's smile made Spitfire anxious to leave.

"We are grateful for your help, but I need to report to the princess immediately."

"But your ving looks broken; let me take care of it first, zen you can go to ze princess," Dr. Bonesaw said.

"We can't afford to lose or forget the knowledge we learned today, and I'm not allowing any chances to."

"I have an idea. I'll go tell ze princess, vile you stay here. If you don't get treatment now, I von't know vat vill happen to you."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist."

She turned to unlock the door, but a hoof stopped her. "I forbid you to leave. You are my patient, and I'm entitled to take care of you..."

"Look doc, I thank you for your concern, but I'm a lot tougher than you think. I'll only take a few minutes."

Dr. Bonesaw sighed. "Are you sure I can't change your mind?"

"I'm sure."

"Too bad." Suddenly, his hoof jabbed into her wing, causing her to yell in pain. The horrified Wonderbolts ran to Spitfire's help, but Dr. Bonesaw was quick. He picked up a strange weapon from a nearby counter and fired syringes out of it. As soon as the needle pierced a pony's skin, he or she would lifelessly fall to the floor.

Spitfire fought the pain and looked at her options. Clearly, this pony was crazy but very skilled. Taking him on would be a bad idea, even without their injuries. Though she didn't want to, the reasonable choice was retreating.

"Everypony, scatter!" Spitfire ordered.

As the ponies ran, they quickly realized it was no use. Ponies were falling asleep one by one and no one could get the door unlocked. But Spitfire refused to be taken down. She dashed into another room and desperately looked for a backdoor. To her frustration, there were still no windows.

She searched for something she could use as a weapon, or maybe something to hide behind. She had barely begun when the door swung open and Dr. Bonesaw aimed his weapon.

"I vouldn't try anysing foolish if I vas you," he said, "one shot from zis syringe gun and you vill be fast asleep."

"Will it matter? I'm sure you'll shoot that thing with or without my cooperation," Spitfire said.

"True, but I'm sure you have a lot of questions you vant to get out of your system."

Spitfire continued to glare at the doctor, but he was right. A few questions did fill her mind. Maybe she could use this chance to stall for time. "Why are you doing this?" Spitfire asked.

"Because I vas asked to."

"You...were asked to?"

"Vell I'll admit, I'm am benefiting from zis arrangement."

"Benefiting how?"

"Don't you already know? I have a whole alicorn to experiment vith!"

"Wait... aren't you-"

"Princess Luna's doctor," Dr. Bonesaw interrupted, "in ze flesh."

Spitfire's eyes widened in horror. "You...you're lying!"

"Oh, I'm _dead_ serious."

Spitfire backed up slightly. Clearly, she was in a worse situation than she thought. Now she had to escape this place and get to Celestia. Possibly, Luna's life hung in the balance. Spitfire noticed a table with a white tablecloth a few hooves away. She tried to continue stalling, but she couldn't find the words to speak.

Dr. Bonesaw chuckled as if he was reading Spitfire's thoughts. His small chuckling then grew into a sickening laughter. Something about his laugh set something off in Spitfire. Great fear dawned on the poor pony, as her instincts were screaming to run. This doctor only had one, clear motive: he was going to kill her.

Without much hesitation, she dashed for the table and kicked it over. She barely evaded the needles as she dived behind it for cover.

"There's no way out fräulein, give up."

She grabbed the tablecloth and tossed it toward Dr. Bonesaw. With him temporarily blinded, she sprinted out the room and towards the locked door. She fiddled with the lock and attempted to open the door. As she pulled the door open, she tried to cry for help, but something violently struck the back of her head. As she slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing she saw was the piercing eyes of her executor.

* * *

 **A\N:** Wow, that's dark. Anyways, next chapter things will start to get chaotic ;)


End file.
